Town have confirmed the signing of veteran centre-half Richard Keogh from Blackpool, the seventh addition of the summer.

Keogh, who is 36 on Thursday, comes into the squad as experienced cover on a one-year deal, a move which will allow the Blues to send fellow Irishman Corrie Ndaba out on loan. We understand Scottish Premiership Kilmarnock and League One sides Burton and Fleetwood have all shown interest.

Essex-born Keogh was at Playford Road as an academy player having joined the club aged eight and was a ballboy before being released and moving on to Stoke City’s youth set-up in 2003.

“It’s amazing to be back,” Keogh told iFollow Ipswich. “I started my football journey here and I have so many memories from my early days, so I can’t wait to get back out on the Portman Road pitch in front of the fans.”

Manager Kieran McKenna added: “Richard is a fantastic addition to the group. He is respected in the dressing room and has been through the highs and lows in football. He will be valuable to us over what is a long season.

“His experience at club and international level is great, and he can still contribute having played a good number of games with Blackpool last season. He is an intelligent player and reads the game very well.

“He had a little niggle not too long ago, but is fit now and will join up with the group immediately.”

Keogh, who will wear the number two shirt with Town, spent a spell with Icelandic side Vikingur on loan during his time with Stoke and having failed to break into the first team with the Potters moved on to Bristol City in 2005.

Loan stints with Wycombe, Huddersfield, Carlisle and Cheltenham followed before he joined the Cumbrians on a permanent basis in 2008.

Two years with Coventry followed from 2010 before a seven-year spell with Derby County, where he was skipper and played alongside Blues first-team coach Lee Grant, which ended acrimoniously when he was sacked in the wake of the car crash in which former Blues loanee Tom Lawrence was found guilty of drink-driving.

Keogh, who suffered a knee injury in the accident which sidelined him for 15 months, eventually won an employment tribunal which deemed that he had been unfairly dismissed and Derby were ordered to pay £2.3 million in compensation. He spoke about the incident and subsequent events in a lengthy interview with The Guardian last year.

TWTD revealed that Keogh, who was capped 26 times by the Republic of Ireland, scoring once, was interesting the Blues in the summer of 2020 after his Rams exit but he eventually joined the MK Dons.

After six months he moved on to Huddersfield and then last summer to Blackpool with whom he made 28 starts and three sub appearances in 2021/22. He has missed both the Seasiders' opening fixtures with a groin injury, suffered in a pre-season friendly against Everton.

We understand the move is a deal that the Blues have been working on for a while - it's believe two offers were turned down - with Keogh set to come in in purely a playing role with no involvement in coaching despite speculation along those lines.

Photo: ITFC

buzbyblue added 09:48 - Aug 10 Dear god it gets worse we actually had to pay a fee for a 35 y.o CB
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blueboy1981 added 09:54 - Aug 10 Where's the Player who knows how to put the Ball between the Goalposts ?? Not as if we don't need one …. !!! 100% proven after last night …..
17

hatch added 09:55 - Aug 10 Good use of the new big screen there for the snaps. Would have looked a bit crap on the SBR stand screen…
2

BlueandTruesince82 added 09:55 - Aug 10 Jeez whats wrong with a bit of experience, it will be a nominal fee. The man has had a very good career, he'll be a strong voice in the dressing room, he's streetwise on the pitch and offers good cover. I think this is a smart signing. Striker next plz
33

VanDusen added 09:59 - Aug 10 Always rated him - played some good games against us. Should help to bring the growing defenders along well as KMc says.
9

Powrigan added 10:03 - Aug 10 Looks old enough to be my grandad!!! Not what we needed, but life goes on.
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Len_Brennan added 10:04 - Aug 10 Decent player, lots of experience at Championship level, not a particularly bad age for an intelligent center back. Presumably he has gotten some reassurance as to playing time, so I wonder which of our current back 3 is going to see more of the bench than they might have expected. I don't think he'll play on the left side of the 3..
5

bluelady added 10:06 - Aug 10 blueboy1981 - or the player who stops the opposition scoring? I assume he is very much as well as not instead of an attacking player... I think we miss Chambers and that true leadership at the back, we are still prone to unnecessary errors which allows teams in and then they shut up shop and our job is twice as hard!
12

Towny_in_Taipei added 10:11 - Aug 10 Are most underwhelmed or discombobulated.....hmmm
0

kuyski added 10:12 - Aug 10 Comments from Blackpools fans were very sad to see him go,so will be a good addition for us ,but when will the next proven striker arrive,no goals no promotion,Simple!
10

TimmyH added 10:21 - Aug 10 We tried to get him in 2010 I think when he was Coventry captain...12 years later when he's close to being put out to graze we've finally succeeded! Maybe he might do a job over a season, but a striker is far more important at this moment in time.
5

Pencilpete added 10:25 - Aug 10 I don't get the negativity - hes another one like Dom Ball who won't shirk a cold tuesday night in January away at Shrewsbury - games where we've previously been bullied and lost. McKenna has said the squad is short of experienced heads and an experienced head who was a regular in the Championship last season is a good one. John Wark at his age was was still a vital cog and a leader in our defence - you can't overstate how important that experience and know how is in the dressing room as much as on the pitch too

32

dirtydingusmagee added 10:26 - Aug 10 i feel a bit sorry for Keogh, being on wrong end of comments, i think if we had signed a good striker first, he would have been seen and accepted in a different light. After last nights debacle its understandable fans will be frustrated / angry, and critical of signing an aging player. Good luck to him, dont expect we will see much of him, dont think we should put him down, .

12

MancBlue86 added 10:27 - Aug 10 Seriously what harm can bringing his experience do? None in my eyes. Experience is golden. The striker will come, KMc knows we need one and theres still 3 weeks to get one, chill ya beans.
13

delias_cheesy_flaps added 10:33 - Aug 10 If Keogh bangs the ball upfield instead of trying to play football in the final third he'll do for me! Just seen last nights catastrophe from Harper, he must be visually impaired on his right side to not see their player?
3

BcarefulwhatUWish4 added 10:40 - Aug 10 Good signing. He will also be able to help massively in training so good move overall. I'd be surprised if he is playing week in/week out though. Good character to have in the squad.
5

Nobbysnuts added 10:46 - Aug 10 Good god and I thought this club was moving forward....how wrong I was.... what a waste of money....
-17

Irishblueboy99 added 10:57 - Aug 10 Brilliant addition he is a warrior and a leader perfect stop gap to give nbada and baggott a year to develop and improve, at the same time Houston we have a problem unless we get a goal poaching fox in the box we a presence the only possible way we are going to get to the championship is through the playoffs maybe Simpson could be turned around, but we desperately need a striker PLEAAAAASE🙏

6

not_a_witty_name added 11:00 - Aug 10 Welcome back Richard, if the nay-sayers had seen John Wark and Tony Mowbray play at the same age as you are then they'd know that age and experience are great assets when added to youth and speed.
13

BcarefulwhatUWish4 added 11:06 - Aug 10 Good recent article on him= https://www.lancs.live/sport/football/football-news/blackpool-keogh-derby-forest
0

Lightningboy added 11:10 - Aug 10 Scratching my head over this? We desperately need a decent striker. Wakes Wakey KM.
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JewellintheTown added 11:11 - Aug 10 Who needs opposition fans when some on here do a better job of it? Welcome Richard! Go prove the miserable barstools wrong.
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Bluedandy added 11:12 - Aug 10 It's striking how Keogh's eyes really match the shirt ... that's very auspicious.
0

norfolkbluey added 11:16 - Aug 10 Maybe Keogh is what the defence needs but what worries me a great deal is that we have been adding numbers to the squad who in the main are good professionals but, no sign of any that are proven regular goal scorers apart from Morsey. What's happened to our scouts in the lower leagues and abroad where we used to be so good at getting brilliant players in. Instead of backroom staff get more scouts who can see potential. That's what happened in Robson's time, and it could happen now. Money is not always the answer whereas stealth and shrewdness is the way you find a Jamie Vardy.

3

ThaiBlue added 11:19 - Aug 10 Km said he will be top scorer this season
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